Thorn Cottage, or the Poet's Home; A Memorial of Frederick Knight, Esq., of Rowley, Mass (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1855. Excerpt: ... Mr. Knight took--as what poet does not--a warm interest in the young. The artless prattle of childhood found in him a willing listener. A world without children would have been to him as a forest without shrubs. The following stanzas were addressed to one of his little favorites. The parents of the child still live in Rowley. A cottage, built in the English style, tastefully adorned with shrubbery, marks the place of their residence. THE LITTLE VILLAGE GIRL, WHO WAS ABOUT TO VISIT HER PATERNAL HOME IN THE EAST INDIES. Thou lovely little village girl, Who ten short years hast seen, The breeze will soon the sail unfurl That wafts thee from the green;--Seen only thus to be withdrawn, And leave us here to sigh, As for a floweret that is gone, Or songster in the sky; Or like the perfume from the tree, Or dew-drop from the spray; Or like the blossom blown to sea, That bore them both away. The belle of blossoms, wooed and wed By some enchanting smile, Vouchsafes to bless a foreign bed, And grace an Indian Isle. But go--we claim not all thy worth; A gem of native growth, Whose stem was of exotic birth, It must remember both. Then go--and us awhile resign, And seek another zone: Thy father but allures from thine To lead thee to his own. Thou dost not go deserted, dove, Beneath a father's care, And mantled in a mother's love, And shielded by her prayer. But He that rules the air and sky, The billows and the land, Shall watch thee with a wakeful eye, And hold thee in His hand. And hear the prayer they breathe behind, All suppliant on their knees, For one that's wafted by the wind, And borne upon the seas, That he will charge the winds to keep The bark that bears thee o'er, To waft it gently o'er the deep, And gently to the shore. Thou goest to greet thy father's fri...